


For efficiency

by pupujuuri



Series: Fucking androids [5]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Blow Jobs, Crime Fighting, Death, Eventual Smut, Gun Violence, M/M, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2020-06-09 13:27:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19476850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pupujuuri/pseuds/pupujuuri
Summary: The RK900 tries its best to learn its partner's habits and way of thinking to maximise their work efficiency. While observing Detective Reed, the RK900 gets closer to the man than anyone has gotten probably in years.





	1. Observations

**Author's Note:**

> Part of my Fucking androids series, but I've tried to write it so it can be read separately. If there's something that needs to be known from the earlier parts I will shortly explain them. To start with, androids are locked in the camps after failed peaceful revolution till government decides if they consider them living or not. Only androids that are (kinda) walking free are RK800 aka Connor and RK900 aka Nines because the DPD has a deal with CyberLife who wants to proof their most sophisticated androids are still trustworthy.
> 
> There will be violence and smut and I will add tags with every chapters.

The days at Detroit Police Department were busy as ever. But the cases were closed faster than ever before too. Main reason being the two prototype androids, RK800 and RK900, working in perfect sync with their human partners Lieutenant Anderson and Detective Reed.

For Detective Reed and the RK900, or Nines as most of the precinct seemed to call it, things hadn’t been like this for long. At first working with the self centered Detective seemed impossible or challenging at least. Neither trusted one another and both saw they would be better working on the cases by themselves. Nines wasn’t sure why, but after the first RK900 was destroyed protecting Detective Reed, the man’s attitude began to chance. 

After that Nines started to look for ways to better work with Reed, since the man wasn't making their partnership impossible anymore. It started to make notes of Reed's habits. When he was in a good mood or bad and what caused it. What immediately ticked him off. What made him laugh. What kind of things caught his attention. Who were the people he enjoyed being with at breaks and why. Nines might have gone little overboard with the analyzing, sometimes Reed taking priority over work related commands.

But it was worth it, for Nines learned how to get the most out of Reed workwise and also learned the man was actually a decent detective. Naturally the man worked best when he had slept well, had his stomach full and had gotten his morning coffee. Nines couldn’t affect Reed’s sleeping routines, which were very unhealthy, and Reed took too good care of his own caffeine level, but Nines made sure the man ate often enough.

Often the android was forced to order something to the precinct when the Detective refused to take a break from his work. Only twice Reed got furious at Nines for “babysitting” him and refused to receive the food. Officer Chris Miller paid and ate the meals instead, just to shut Reed up. Only for Reed to moments later realise he was starving. What a stupid human. 

After the third time the Detective started accepting the food Nines ordered but complained the whole time while eating it. In two weeks even the man himself got tired of that. After that it almost seemed like Reed was eagerly waiting what the android had ordered for him when the lunch time was closing in.

Today it was thai curry and rice. Reed was at his desk, stuffing the food to his mouth like an animal, while Nines was writing a report by the opposite workstation. The man stopped to think for a moment and then looked at the android for few seconds before opening his mouth: “Why do you do this?”

Nines didn’t look away from its monitor: “It is faster for me to write the reports than you. Also you hate paperwork.”

“No jackass, why do you keep ordering me food?”, Reed specified, annoyed.

Nines stopped what he was doing and turned his head to look at the Detective. “You work better when you are not starving. Your are more observant, your reaction time is better, your mood swings are not so frequent and strong, yo-”

“Okay I get it, enough already”, Reed motioned with his hand for Nines to stop. “So it’s all about keeping me at the top of my game?”

“Yes. Since my mission is to be as useful to the Detroit Police Department as possible, I concluded that the only way to achieve it is to make sure also my partner is able to do his very best.”

“Heh”, Reed let out a sarcastic laugh, “For a moment I was afraid you actually cared about my wellbeing.”

“I am an android, I am not able to ca-”

“Yeah yeah, just forget that I asked”, Reed cut the android off again. Nines analyzed the man’s tone, change of posture and expression and came to a conclusion that he was disappointed. Reed went back to eating and Nines turned back to the monitor.

The android was about to connect with the workstation but halted, withdrew its hand and looked back at the Detective. “What if I had cared?”, Nines wasn’t sure why it asked that, what does the answer matter? Reed stopped the fork that was heading into his mouth and slowly lowered it back down into the takeaway box. The man took his time to think for an answer.

“That would had been new”, Reed said with a smile, eyes locked to his food. But it didn’t look like a happy smile and it made Nines feel a twist inside. Nines followed the man’s expression change to… Irritated? Angry? The Detective continued his meal and avoided eye contact with the android for the rest of the day.

New that the RK900 would care about something or new that someone would care about Reed’s wellbeing? Nines was left to wonder but interpreted that the man was done talking about personal matters.


	2. Lazy, stupid and incapable

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Info from previous stories:  
> Reed has a remote control given by CyberLife to keep Nines in control in case he goes deviant or something. Nines is supposed to be under surveillance at all times and if left alone then put in locked mode. He can't be too far from the control and there is also a stunning function.

Reed was a proud man. Sometimes too proud for his own good. He knew his value and didn't let anyone belittle him. Hell would break loose if someone doubted him, disagreed with him or he was ordered to do the tasks of those below him. Like patrol.

"Can't believe this fucking shit. Waste of my time. I bet Anderson never has to fill in for an officer…", Reed mumbled to himself while eating a sandwich. Him and Nines were sitting in a diner, taking a break from patrol. Two officers had called in sick and they couldn't get a fill-in so Captain Fowler ordered Reed to the streets for one shift. "And on top of all had to take you with me", Reed shot a mean look at his partner sitting opposite to him. The two officers who's partners got sick partnered up so neither would need to be with the Detective. Fowler had decided that it was better to have Nines with Reed than let him go alone.

But there was a slight problem: Police officers didn't have androids anymore. Nines didn't raise too much attention when they were doing detective work but out in the public it would cause disturbance. Androids were still held at the camps after the revolution and the RK900 and RK800 were the only legal androids. Though mostly only the police force knew about them. So to not raise too much attention Reed gave Nines a police uniform and told it to wear a hat.

Except that didn't help much. Since everybody now thought Nines was a human it was an exceptionally good looking human. They had already been stopped few times on the streets for a picture and everywhere they went eyes would follow. It was clearly getting on Reed's nerves.

"Are you jealous of all the attention I am getting? Let me assure you, I am not seeking it", Nines tried to ease Reed's foul mood.

"Jealous? Like hell I am. Why would I be jealous to a fucking Ken doll", Reed laughed off but he definitely was jealous.

They had been running around all day taking care of common police officer cases like stopping speedsters, filing in robberies and maintaining general order. Reed had been complaining the whole day and didn't show any motivation for their job. Just an hour till the end of their shift.

“Center calling Detective Reed, do you copy?”, a voice came from Reed’s radio.

“Yeah I hear you”, Reed replied rolling his eyes.

“We have a 10-40 at Fraser. A neighbor called after they heard shouting, screaming and objects being thrown at the next door apartment. You and Nines are the closest.”

“We have a situation of our own, send the next unit”, Reed lied and continued his sandwich.

“Detective, we are not in the middle of anything. We should go, someone could be in danger”, Nines tried to convince its partner but Reed wouldn’t budge.

“It’s probably just some lovers quarrel. I’ve been there, they’re going to have awesome hate sex afterwards”, Reed smirked.

Nines tuned in on the right frequency: “This is RK900, Detective Reed will take that 10-40."

“What the hell are you-!”

"Please send me the location”, Nines didn’t let Reed’s objection bother. The android received the location and stood up from the desk to leave.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”, Nines just kept walking to the door. “Hey tincan! I’m talking to you!!”, Reed kept shouting after the android, not caring that people turned to stare at him. When Reed noticed that Nines didn’t stop he got up and marched after it, leaving rest of the sandwich on the table. Reed reached Nines at the man’s car where the android was waiting. “Fucking plastic piece of shit are you fucking broken!?”, the man walked right in front of Nines to shout at its face. “You don’t give orders here, I do! We’re not going anywhere! Someone else can handle this”, the man tried his best to seem threatening. A waste against an android.

“My mission is to be as useful to the Detroit Police Department as I possibly can. I am not going to let your laziness affect my work”, Nines informed.

“How the hell are you going to get there without me? You’re not supposed to move by yourself, right?”, Reed had the smile of a winner. Why did he have to make Nines work harder.

“I will force you into the car if I have to and drive there myself”, it wasn’t a threat, just an announcement.

Reed took a step back into a position in which he was ready to fight back if Nines tried something: “You sound pretty sure of yourself, wanna try out?” They were drawing too much attention with Reed fooling around and wasting time. Nines needed to get the Detective into the car without a fight, now. Something Nines had noticed earlier was that if someone doubted the Detective’s skills he pushed himself even further to show how good he was. Everyone also knew he hates Lieutenant Anderson.

“The incompetence you are showing makes me wonder how you have made it to detective. You think highly of yourself, but if I would had been paired with Lieutenant Anderson there would not be any cases left for you.”

“That old fart is nothing without his lap dog”, the words didn’t have effect on the Detective. Yet.

“You believe you are equal to the Lieutenant, or even better. But I bet if he would had put the uniform on and gone to the streets to do plain police officer’s job he would not complain all the time because he respects those below him and their work. Unlike you. Respect for others is not something he can get from his android. And that is why he is a lieutenant and you should not even be a-”

“Get in the fucking car”, Nines finally got through to Reed. The car door opened and both of them stepped in. Reed was angry. His face was stern and movements aggressive. There was truth to what Nines spoke but also lies. Reed was an amazing detective and Nines was sure it fitted working with him much better than with Anderson. Nines needs to say that someday. But the man really needed to work on his respect towards others if he want to advance on his career.

“Center calling Reed, do you copy?”

“We’re on our fucking way!”, Reed shouted to the radio. Maybe Nines went too far.

“The situation has changed. There might be a gun at the apartment and a child is involved”, the last word made Reed go pale. “I’ll send you back up.”

“Fuck.. Fuck…”, Reed cursed and sped up.

\-------------------------------------------------------

The residents from the same floor where the voices of fighting came from were peeking from their doorways when Reed and Nines arrived. When they closed in the correct apartment they could hear the shouting of a man, pleading of a woman and weeping of a child.

“I can’t live without you two, can’t you see that?! I got nothing without you!!!”, a male voice carried through the door.

“It’s okay baby, don’t worry… Please let her go… Please…”, a woman crying and begging.

Reed and Nines leaned to the wall next to the right door and listened for a moment to analyze the situation, Reed with his gun already drawn. Nines used the sounds and vibration of the ground to construct what was happening behind the door and where the people were standing.

“Right behind this door there is a hall leading to what I believe is living room. The male is at the far end of the room, holding a pistol in his hand and a child in front of him. About 50 feet from us. The female is in the same room, behind a corner to the left. If I kick down this door you should have a clear shot at the male”, Nines whispered to its partner.

“Should!? Why do I even keep you around”, Reed must had been joking to ease the tension. The information Nines was able to provide was much more than a common android could give, let alone a human. On the other side of the door the woman was able to calm the situation down by promising she wouldn’t leave. She had probably tried to break up with the man and things had escalated. Unfortunately the man was still holding the child so Reed and Nines decided to wait for backup now that the situation was stable.

“I see what you’re doing. I’m a bad father for scaring my little girl like this”, the man’s voice had gone softer. Nines heard the man turn the child and kneel before her. “Don’t cry princess, it’s over soon.”

Nines noticed Reed’s face change to panic and right away face the door and kick it open.

“NO!!!”, a woman’s scream.

BANG. A gun.

CRUSH. A door breaking.

“Freeze!”, Reed’s shout.

BANG. A gun.

Nines analyzed the situation.

>A child on the floor. Dead, shot in the head.

>A man on the floor. Alive, shot in the stomach. Gun 5 feet from him.

>A woman running to the child. Alive and unharmed.

>Detective Reed running to the child. Alive and unharmed.

There was no point bothering with the child. Nines walked to the man and kicked the pistol further from him. It called an ambulance while kneeling and trying to stop the bleeding.

\---------------------------------------------------------

Back up and ambulance arrived. Nines stood outside the apartment building, informing officers on what happened. Reed had disappeared almost immediately the ambulance and other units had arrived. But he was nearby, Nines could track the remote control used to lock or daze the android. Once Nines had given the needed info it went to look for the Detective.

Sounds of trash cans being kicked and thrown around echoed from a nearby alley. And loud familiar curses. Nines found his partner sweaty and panting, with his knuckles bloody and hands in tight fists. There was blood also on his uniform. Not his own but from the hands of the mother who Reed had to drag away from her dead child. Reed hadn’t noticed the android behind him.

“Are you alri-”

“Go away”, Reed stopped all his movement and went completely stiff when he realised Nines was behind him. He spoke so monotonically it made Nines uneasy.

“It is o-”

“I SAID GO AWAY!!!”, Reed turned to face the android and shouted louder than Nines had ever heard him shout. His face was painted with sadness and anger in a complete mess. Nines didn’t move. 

“It was not your fault”, it tried to console.

“Damn right it wasn’t!”, Reed stepped right in front of Nines. “Aren’t you supposed to be some super android?! Why didn’t YOU do anything before it was too late?!”, he asked and shoved Nines. Though it was more like shoving a wall which made the Detective breath out an annoyed grunt and leave the android alone.

“It was not my fault either. I used all of my functions to prevent what happened but it was not enough. I can not exceed what I was built to do. And you are only a human”, Reed shot a stern look for that comment, “you are not perfect and make mistakes. You should not punish yourself for what happened.”

“I’m not punishing myself”, the man turned away but Nines snatched his wrist and raised the hand between them, bloody knuckles facing the man. Reed glanced at his hand and quickly jerked it away, Nines letting him. It was obvious the Detective was mostly angry at himself, which was a rare sight. He usually found the fault in everyone else but him and on those cases he would take his anger on others. Not now. “You can’t claim we couldn’t had stopped that”, Reed was facing away from Nines. “If we had left when the first call came, maybe…”, his hands squeezed into fists. Nines waited for the Detective to continue. Instead the man collapsed into a crouch, facing down, grabbing and pulling his hair: “F-fuck… Can’t you just… Fucking leave me be….”

Nines kept staring at the agonized Detective. Maybe it would be best to leave him alone, guide him to healthcare later. It would do him good to talk with a professional about today. The android turned to leave but a pained sob stopped it. Was the Detective crying? Couldn’t be. Still, Nines moved like without a command, grabbed Reed’s collar and pulled him up into a hug. 

Reed managed to get his arms between them and tried his best to push away: “The hell you doing… Let… hngh… fucking go!”

Nines just held tighter the more Reed pushed. “I will not. You are in pain and I believe comfort will help”, maybe that is what Nines had thought when it took a hold of Reed but just didn’t realise it. If this case leaves traumas to the Detective it will affect his work.

“You’re not helping you’re crushing me!”, Reed still had amazing amount of strength left after throwing the trash cans around.

“Stop fighting back so I do not have to. Let me help you”, the situation was making Nines feel strange, why couldn’t it just leave the man alone.

“Don't help me! I deserve this! I deserve worse! I killed a-”, Reed’s voice was cut by a sob and he pushed Nines away even harder but eased up when it didn’t do him any good, “I- I killed… a fucking kid…” Fists grabbed Nines’ jacket and a face was pushed against the android’s chest. “I messed up… I’m a lazy incompetent piece of shit and it cost a life of a kid…”, the voice was barely audible.

Lazy. Incompetent. Nines' words from earlier that day. Stress level rising. Reed was shaking. Nines eased its hold to keep Reed more gently in its arms. It should say something. "The outcome could had been the same no matter how early we had arrived", it wasn't comforting, just a fact. 

"Stop. Don't even try", the hold on Nines jacket loosened.

"But what you did was save the woman's life."

"Stop…", Reed removed his face from Nines' chest.

“You acted before the first gunshot went off. The man was about to raise his gun on the woman but you got him first”, Nines imprisoned the Detective in its arms again, not letting him escape. “I did not foresee the first shot, but you did. You are an amazing detective and I am sure you are the best partner for me from DPD”, the words just bubbled from Nines’ mouth. The android analysed the content only after the words had already come out and wondered about its choices.

Reed tried to fight free the whole time Nines was talking, the android not sure if he had even listened. The answers were very Reed-like: “Fuck you”, followed by more struggling. “The hell do you know fucking plastic?! You think a life of a child weights the same as adult’s?! Human lives are just statistic to you, so keep your shitty preprogrammed comfort tips to yourself and let me handle this my own way!”

“Your way to cope is unhealthy. I will hold you till you have calmed down”, it would take a while.

“Like hell you will!”

An hour. For an entire hour Reed had energy to flounder, curse, kick, try to hit Nines with his head and curse some more. When Nines finally let go Reed was barely able to stand so Nines drove him home.

\------------------------------------------

Reed was silent and nonresponsive for the whole 55 minute car ride, pouting like a kid. Except for one sentence: “If you tell anyone about today, I will destroy you.”

“Understood, Detective.”

Nines helped Reed to his apartment, he was physically and mentally drained. The man walked straight to his bed and fell there, still in his bloody uniform. Nines decided to get him a glass of water but it took a moment to find a clean glass, since there wasn’t any. When Nines had finally washed one and took the water to the Detective he was already snoring. The rules set by CyberLife said that the RK900 should be locked down when the controller holder left their android alone, or in this case went to sleep, but it wouldn’t be a good idea to wake the man up now. Not after the day he had. Nines decided to move to the living room and stay in stasis till Reed would wake up.

\-----------------------------------------------

Reed gets out of bed and walks to the bathroom, stopping for a moment probably because he noticed Nines sitting on his sofa. He takes off his clothes and takes a shower while washing his teeth. 15 minutes later he steps out, wet feet slapping towards Nines.

Nines was in stasis and had its eyes closed, but it was still somewhat aware of its surroundings. The walking changed into sneaking, closing in. Nines activated all its systems but kept eyes closed, wanting to know what the Detective was up to. Reed was right in front of the android now, its artificial skin detecting his breath. But he just stood there.

Eyes shot open and Reed’s startled face and a flash of his finger filled Nines’ whole vision. “Phck!”, the face withdrew and Reed stumbled into his sofa table behind him when trying to get distance from the android. “You scared the shit out of me! How long have you been awake?”, he adjusted the falling towel around his waist.

“Long enough. What were you doing?”, it looked like Reed was about to touch the android's face. Nines picked up the bloody police officer jacket it had taken off in the evening while getting up and walked to the door. It was already 8:12 and they should be at work.

“Nothing”, Reed crossed his arms, “tried to scare you, see if you’re jumpy.”

“You sure took your time, I got tired waiting”, Nines got a flip of a finger as an answer, “but at least we found out that you are jumpy.”

“Are you making fun of me?!”, the Detective sounded more surprised than angry. 

“I am just stating a facts. One being that we should get going to work so could you get yourself ready”, Nines hoped Reed wasn’t in the mood of doing the exactly opposite of what was asked from him. There was a glare but thankfully the man willingly walked off to get himself ready. “By the way, how are you feeling”, guess it is polite to ask.

“Super. Let’s pretend yesterday never happened.”


	3. I don't mind being killed by a cat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nines discovers a softer side from his partner.

The sun in the middle of a solar system. Everything was revolving around him, everything had something to do with him. Everything had to be done the way he wanted because he was better than everyone else. If Reed had a bad day, everyone near him would have a bad day.

A selfish man only thinking about himself.

The human android duo was returning from questioning a witness. Reed did the questioning and Nines’ job was to analyze if the witness was telling the truth. They were but the the two still learned nothing new for their case. Though it’s always interesting to see how Reed is like another person when questioning a witness: calm and polite. He must have concluded that to be the best way to get information since no other time would he show that side.

Out of the blue Reed stopped the car to the side of the road. “Wait here, I need to take care of something”, he opened the door and got out of the car.

“I will come with you”, Nines opened his side too.

“Are you fucking deaf?! I said wait here! I won’t be long”, Reed slammed the door shut before Nines could respond. They didn’t have anything work related here, what was the Detective up to? He always informed when he was going for lunch so this wasn’t it. Nines didn’t even know how far the man was about to go so it was better to follow him. After all Nines wasn’t supposed to be too far from his partner.

Noticing that Nines disobeyed the order to wait in the car would only upset Reed so Nines decided to tail Reed. He entered a pet shop 928 feet from the car and walked out with a paper bag in his hands heading to a nearby alleyway. As Reed walked deeper, Nines noticed movement above them and heard noises coming from trash cans and full plastic bags on the ground. The android kept its distance.

“What is it, you’re not hungry?”, Reed talked to the air and right away dozen of cats emerged from the trash cans, behind the plastic bags and jumped down from fire escapes. They circled the man and meowed, howled and screamed at him. “Yeah yeah I know, sorry I haven’t been around”, Reed crouched in the middle of the cats, one being brave enough to set its front paws on his thigh while trying to get to the bag, “there’s this plastic dildo I’ve been forced to drag with me so haven’t been able to come.”

Reed took a package of dry cat food from the paper bag and ripped it open. The cats were going nuts. The insides flew all around the alleyway and cats running and jumping after the bits. Reed was laughing out loud. A red striped cat was eating close to Reed and he crouched next to it: "Hey, you're a new one", he carefully offered his hands to be sniffed but instead the cat gave a mean hiss and scraped Reed's hardel. "Phuck!", the hand retreated. It wasn't badly scratched, but the cat's sudden attack got even Nines to twitch. Reed just left the cat be, opening few cans of wet food and had the full attention of the felines yet again.

Nines had never seen a living cat before so it was interested to study them closer and decided to calmly approach them. Unfortunately one of the cats noticed it and right away made a run for it, getting rest of the pack follow its lead. They almost pushed the crouching Detective over while escaping so the man stood up and turned to see what scared his friends off. “Didn’t I tell you to stay in the car?!”, he wasn't pleased with what he saw.

“I am not supposed to be too far from you and since I did not know how far you were about to go it was better to follow you”, Nines heard the Detective mutter curses. “Though I am sorry for scaring the cats away, you seemed happy with them.”

“Yeah well that’s over now”, Reed collected the empty package and cans back to the plastic bag. “So you followed me here and been lurking behind a corner? Why couldn’t you stay there?”, the disappointment could be heard from his tone, Nines really wished it had stayed hidden. This was the first time it had seen the Detective smiling and laughing like that, not at someone else’s misfortune or mockingly. 

“I hoped to see a cat. I did not think they would be scared of me.”

“Have you ever looked yourself in the mirror??”, Reed walked past the android, “Whatever, lets just go…”

Nines turned to follow its partner, pondering how it could compensate what it had ruined. There was rattling coming from behind and Nines stopped to listen. The cats were carefully coming out of their hiding places, looking after their source of food. “Wait”, Nines asked the Detective.

“What now!?”, Reed asked with a sigh.

“I think they are still hungry”, Nines didn't dare to turn, afraid it would just scare the cats away again.

Reed swiftly walked back to the android and laid the paper bag into its hands. He took the cans from the back and slowly walked towards the cats. “Stay still”, he commanded his partner. The cats allowed Reed to approach and crouch down few feet away from them. Reed resumed opening the cans and emptying them on the ground. Nines carefully looked over it's shoulder and watched as the cats cautiously smelled the food and took bites. “I left one in the bag. Open it”, Reed spoke slow, soft, smooth and as quiet as he could but so the android would hear him.

Nines checked the inside of the bag and picked the remaining can. Right away there were a pair of eyes following it. No data had been installed on how to behave with cats so Nines decided to mimic Reed’s movements. It knelt down to one knee and emptied the can on the ground, but the cat stayed still away.

“Stop staring at it dipshit. Can’t you see it’s shit scared of you. Just pretend it’s not there”, Reed was able to raise his voice little more without startling the cats. Nines did as told and even took some distance from the food, still staying knelt down. Pretend it’s not there… Where should Nines look at then.

Maybe it could learn more from watching the Detective. The cats really seemed to like him, even letting him pet them. “The cats are dirty and probably full of fleas. I do not recommend touching them. We should also get that scratch cleaned.”

“If I die from petting a cat so be it”, just to spite Nines, Reed ruffled the fur with force.

“You sure like cats”, it was good to see Reed smiling again like he had before.

Reed gave Nines a shocked look: “How on Earth did your super computer brain managed to find that out?!”, his brows pressed together, "Wait, are you smiling?" 

"What are you talking about?", Nines was sure it hadn’t changed anything on its face.

"Just now!”, Reed repelled the cats around him by dashing towards Nines. “Well calling it a smile would be exaggerating, but your expression was definitely softer than usual.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about. You must had imagined it”, the android stood up and leaned back as Reed’s hand neared its face. Reed pressed his index finger between Nines’ brows and pushed up.

“Noooo that’s not it, now you just look sad”, he raised his other hand on the android’s face too and lifted its cheeks. “That’s creepy”, he let go, “You should try to do it yourself again.”

“I have no idea what you thought you saw on my face so I can not do that again”, the android didn’t understand why it was such a big deal to Reed anyway. The man crossed his arms with a hmph. His mouth formed a playful smirk when his gaze hit the ground where Nines had left the food and tilted his head to sign Nines to look too. Nines had completely turned its back to the cat when Reed had rushed to it so the android carefully glanced over its shoulder. There it was, eating the food Nines had given it. Would it let Nines come closer?

There was a sound of photo being taken. The lens was directed at Nines and Reed flipped his phone to show the picture. He had been right, Nines’ expression was different. It was subtle, so much that Nines was amazed Reed had even noticed, but the android’s gaze was definitely softer than usual.

[SOFTWARE INSTABILITY]

That shouldn’t happen without Nines noticing. That shouldn’t happen at all.

“Next time you claim androids don’t have feelings I’m going to shove this to your face, mr. cat lover”, the Detective’s face wasn’t wide enough for that smile.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

They had wasted way too much time with the cats. Nines would had demanded the Detective to work overtime to make up for it if the man didn’t work himself to death already. The precinct was empty, people doing day shift had gone home and officers were on patrol. Reed and Nines were always the last there. The Detective looked tired.

“Please go home, Detective. We will continue tomorrow”, Nines advised Reed for the third time that evening.

“I’ll wrap up one more case”, from the pattern of Reed’s fingers on the keyboard Nines could see he was doing more and more typing mistakes, having to erase the text more often than usual.

“That is what you said half an hour ago.”

“Look”, Reed raised his hands from the keyboard, “I'm rather at work where I got something to do than go home to stare at the walls. I know I won’t be getting any sleep anyway so might as well get these done.”

“Why not get a cat as a pet? It would give you a reason to go home and company you when you can not sleep”, Nines had learned somewhere that taking care of a pet could help a person take care of themself too. It’s easier to neglect one's own needs than other living being's that's dependent on you. And to be able to take care of that pet one must take care of themself too.

“No”, Reed leaned on his chair, crossed his fingers behind his head and raised his feet on the table. He spoke like he had thought that already: “I don’t think it would be right for a cat to be alone in my small apartment all day just for my amusement when I get home. Cats are independent bastards who do what they want and should be free to go where they want to go.”

“Interesting coming from you since you ruthlessly use and step on people when it benefits you. But not cats?”

"That’s because people suck. Everyone's wearing a mask and pretending to be something they're not. No-one's showing their true colors. Some seem nice and then they stab you in the back. You can't trust anyone. Cats are assholes too but they don’t pretend to be anything else. They don't suck up to humans and they do whatever the hell they want."

And just like a cat Reed didn’t care what Nines thought of his working hours and went home when he felt like it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm struggling with the 5th chapter... I have the 4th done but don't want there to be like a month between uploading chapters so I'll upload it hopefully in a week or two.


	4. Why are you so difficult

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Every action and choice Nines makes is only to benefit its mission. Right?

One would think a man works best when they’re in a good mood. Reed wasn't one of those men. If he was in a too good mood he would be too carefree and sure of himself during investigations, missing important details and using too much of his time bugging his colleagues or generally fooling around. Being too annoyed didn’t work either, he would just waste time on his phone and, in his own words, wouldn’t give a flying fuck that he had work to do. Just telling him to get back to work or to pay more attention never helped, he hated being ordered around.

He had to be tricked. There had to be a right ratio of boredom, cockiness, pride, energy and other components to get the best out of the Detective. Nines had to know exactly what ropes to pull: when to compliment or taunt, when to notify a detail Reed had missed or wait for him to find it out himself, what kind of case he should present to the Detective and so on. Nines didn’t get it right every time and still had clashes with the temperamental man every now and then.

Fortunately Reed was very motivated and ambitious with his job. And surprisingly smart with good deduction skills. Even when he had slower and sloppier days every now and then he made up for them on the more active days.

Then there were the days that puzzled Nines the most. The days when Reed walked with lazy steps, hazy eyes and hands stuffed to his pockets. The days he didn’t say a word to his colleagues or Nines, no matter how much Nines provoked the man to get a reaction from him. The days Reed paid the lunch Nines ordered him but didn’t eat a bite. The days he worked silently without breaks other than to get some coffee and to use the toilet.

Reed did his job but there was no devotion or energy that the man usually had. The difference between the loud, joking and confident detective and this was like a night and day. This should be fine, Reed working silently and calmly without interruptions, Nines being able to offer his help without the Detective lashing out at him. But something in Nines was telling it that this wasn’t fine. Nines couldn’t understand what was giving that information. First the android just ignored it and in a day or two Reed was back to being his loud and rude self. In a month the melancholic Detective was back and with it the feeling in Nines returned. It was unbearable.

Nines found itself finding reasons why this behavior would disturb their cases. Otherwise the android didn’t have a reason to intervene. If it was some form of depression or other mental disorder it would definitely affect the man’s work in a long run. So first step was to find out what caused it, which turned out to be impossible since Nines was with the Detective only at work and Reed refused to open up about his personal life. Nines made notes that at least anything that happened at work shouldn’t trigger his gloominess. The android also noticed that after every quiet period the Detective would come to work more or less bruised.

“I tripped”

“Boxing”

“Got in a bar fight”

“None of your fucking business!”

The man would say when he noticed the android analyzing the bruising.

It was Reed's second day of feeling blue when Nines decided to try something. The android knew Reed likes cats so it send him a cat video many human had found funny, hoping it would cheer him up. When Reed received the link to the video he first looked insipidly at his partner sitting opposite to him, Nines paying no mind to him. Then he watched the video and smiled shortly. He must had watched the video again because he was still looking at his phone screen and smiled again even when the video should had ended. But the smile didn’t last as he suddenly got up from his desk, picked up his jacket from the back rest and announced he would be leaving home. 

Nines stood up also: “I did not mean to upset you”, the video had an effect Nines didn’t anticipate. Reed turned to make his way to the entrance without a word. “Detective, you need to put me in a lockdown if you are leaving from work”, Nines followed Reed all the way to the entrance.

“I’m not in the mood to have this conversation again”, the man stopped and spoke calmly. “I know you’re not starting a murder rampage so can we just leave it.”

“The CyberLife insists yo-”

Reed made a quick turn to face Nines: “I don't give a SHIT what the CyberLife thinks!", Reed raised his voice to the max and pressed his finger against the unmoving android's chest. Without breaking the eye contact with Reed Nines noticed how everyone at the precinct went silent and turned to look at the two of them.

"Calm down", Nines said firmly, but of course it just riled up the Detective more.

"Want to know what I think about CyberLife and their fancy controller leach?!", Reed tried to find the controller from his pockets. Nines heard Connor walking towards them and Lieutenant Anderson getting up from his chair. Finally finding the controller, Reed raised his hand to probably smash it to the ground. Nines didn't let that happen and grabbed the man's fist, holding it over Reed's head. "Let go", Reed growled through his teeth and used his free hand to try and open Nines' grip.

"I will let go when you have calmed down. You are causing a commotion", Nines had everything under control. Until Connor touched its shoulder while asking what was going on. A small thing but just enough to make Nines avert its eyes from the Detective, giving the man a chance to headbutt the android straight into its nose.

"Brother!"

"What the fuck Reed?!"

"REED!!"

Nines let go, bending and taking few steps back while everything was dark for few seconds. The android could only hear the shouts of Connor, the Lieutenant and the Captain. There were also gasps and laughs coming around them. Thirium was flowing from Nines' nose.

"Are you ok?", Connor had stepped between Nines and Reed, who was also bending down and holding his forehead, cursing.

Anderson ran to them and right away started scolding the Detective: "The fuck's gotten into you?!"

But Reed hadn’t gotten enough: “You want to be locked up that badly?! Then come at me bro!”, he wiggled the controller between his fingers.

“You are being unbelievably childish”, Nines tried to approach its partner but Connor was holding it back, trying to convince to let Anderson handle this. But it was Nines that had caused this, it should also take care of it. “Give the controller to someone more responsible if controlling me is too much for you.”

That flared Reed up and he dropped the controller, lunged at the android but only grazed its jacket before Anderson got a hold of the man from behind and pulled him back: "Reed calm down!"

“The hell is going on here!?”, Captain Fowler marched from his glass office and silenced everyone in the precinct. Reed freed himself and rushed out before the upcoming crackdown. “Where do you think you’re going!? Reed? REED!?”

Nines looked after its partner and tried to understand what just happened.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

The next half an hour was spent in Fowler’s office unwinding the situation with Fowler, Anderson and his android. The Captain tried to call Reed multiple times but the man had turned off his phone. Nines explained what it did to cause Reed's outburst. Everyone was as confused as Nines and the final conclusion was that Reed was a jerk and maybe had some personal issues stressing him out. Though it didn’t excuse his actions.

Before Nines was locked to the docking stations, since it wasn’t allowed to work without the Detective, Connor gave it few advises: “I know you are trying to get along with Detective Reed but I wouldn’t get too close to him if I were you. He is not a nice person and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I am just trying to accomplish my mission and have noticed that the well-being of Detective Reed has a big part in it. I have no interest in him other than that and he is not able to hurt me”, Connor’s worried expression eased with Nines’ words and Anderson locked the RK900 down after it had gone to stasis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing angry and violent Reed with mood swings.


	5. Watching and being watched

Nines was in stasis for three full days. On the fourth day it could recognize Reed’s steps as the man walked through the entrance and in front of the android. He didn’t release it though, the controller being in Lieutenant Anderson’s possession. He continued to Captain Fowler’s office and was there at least an hour. Even after that Nines wasn’t released. A moment passed and Nines could hear Fowler shouting at Reed to get his android. A drawer was opened and Nines was finally freed.

“Good morning Detective”, Nines said as it sat down at its desk opposite to Reed’s. Reed didn’t respond, just stared seriously at his monitor. “I just wanted to say I am sorry for what happened earlier…”, Nines voice faded since the man it was talking to stood up and just walked away. They cannot possibly work like this. The android went after Reed to the break room and was determined to talk things out. Luckily the break room was empty, since all the signs implied that the Detective would cause another scene pretty soon. He was making himself a cup of coffee when Nines interrupted him: “You have to tell me what I have done to make you so upset.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake”, Reed was ready to leave his cup behind to get away from the android but Nines blocked the doorway when Reed tried to get out.

“I do not know how to change my behavior to better suit you if you will not tell me”, Reed would lash out any second now but Nines was ready.

Except he didn’t. His whole appearance signaled the opposite of aggression: slouched posture, head held down, other hand wrapped around his side and the other on his bicep, like holding himself in a hug. “Then don’t”, even his tone was uncharacteristically subdued.

“I do not understand”, Nines tried to get an eye contact with its partner.

“Tsk”, Reed just turned his face further away from the android. An officer appeared from behind Nines, more would soon follow to get their coffee. “Let’s go talk somewhere else.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

An old interrogation room on the second floor. They used the observer’s side and Reed set the door sign as occupied. He crossed his arms and waited for the android to speak. “Well? I thought you had something to say.”

There were two chairs in the room but both preferred to stand, hoping this wouldn’t take long. “I am sorry if I did something that offended you the other day. I thought my actions would cheer you up.”

“Okay, anything else?”, like Reed hadn’t even listened. This was pointless but Nines continued nevertheless.

“It would help me if I knew why my actions made you react like you did so I will not accidentally do it again. I have been trying to think it through but I just do not understand”, there would be a lot other things Nines didn’t understand about Reed but those were not relevant right now. The android didn’t expect a simple answer from its partner but anything it could learn from the Detective’s flow of thoughts would surely help.

“You’re one piece of work, you know that?”, Reed raised his chin, looking much more like himself than he had a moment ago. Nines didn’t bother answering. It concentrated on analyzing Reed’s tone, expression, form and everything that would help the android predict where this was leading. “You want to know what’s my problem? You. And not just that one incident. You keep convincing yourself that you’re just a machine without free will or feelings and all that shit, but you’re not!”, after every phrase Reed’s speech became more rapid and loud. His arms unwrapped and gestured more and more passionately. “Shit! You find the world around you interesting, want to learn and experience new things, you care about the living things! Yet you demand me to lock you up every evening like a fucking computer!”

It wasn't the first time Reed voiced his discomfort of locking Nines up and the android had thought it had already convinced the Detective to accept it was not a living thing. Unfortunately Reed was still keeping his hopes alive and it made him delusional. There was a logical explanation to everything Reed claimed. “I am a highly advanced model so it is no surprise I possess great resemblance to actual humans. But you should not be confused, I thought you were smarter than that”, surprisingly Reed didn’t react to that taunt. “The interest towards the world and need to learn and experience are simply me gaining more information. You can never have too much information about your surroundings. Secondly, I cannot care. But I have been programmed to hold the lives of living things in high value as a resolution to androids harming humans.”

For a second Nines thought Reed would finally drop the subject. At least he had calmed down. “What about me?”, his voice was much quieter now and he wasn’t able to look at Nines. The android tilted its head a bit to sign it hadn’t understood the question. “All you’ve done for me. You just following your program?”

“You are my partner without whom I am not able to achieve my mission. If I aim to work perfectly I need to also keep you physically and mentally stable. I am truly sorry if I have mislead you but I cannot care about you like a human does. I am only an android.”

“What about the video?”

Nines froze. Reed waited. "Like I said, I thought it might cheer you up, I did no-"

"Why did you want to cheer me up? I was little down, sure, but I wasn't slacking off or ignoring work. Right?"

Nines… Didn't know what to say. It realized it hadn't been the only one paying close attention to its partner. Reed must had been following Nines' decision making and trying to find proof to his hopes. And Nines couldn't deny it, there had been illogicality in its action. But they must had been glitches and faults in its programming.

"Your light's blinking yellow", Reed said with a smile. Of course he would enjoy seeing Nines work faulty. "Well? How you going to explain yourself?", oh how pleased he was with himself.

"I do not deny my actions have not always been logical. There must be some instability in my software. I should get checked at CyberLife before it gets worse", it would be a shame though. The CyberLife would probably just replace this RK900 and some of the information it has collected of Reed would surely be left out.

"Wha-?! No!", Reed closed the distance between them. "I don't want you to be fixed, I want to know how to corrupt you more!"

Nines took a more defensive stance. "I know you do not like me but I thought we had moved past hostilities."

"You're so fucking clueless!", Reed growled in frustration and grabbed the android's collar. He was going to attack. There was still a bruise on the man’s forehead and he should be smart enough not to use that to hit again. A close distance knee kick perhaps. Nines prepared his hands to block.

Nines hadn't calculated getting kissed. It managed to pull away enough to speak: "Detective, you sho-", it was interrupted by Reed's mouth but also the man's tongue aggressively making its way into Nines' mouth, causing something Nines had never experienced. The rush of information Nines got with its tongue so suddenly was difficult to handle. The sensors in the tongue were very sensitive and only small amount of a sample was supposed to be analyzed at a time. This also explained the choice of location for this sensor: safely inside the android's mouth.

All other sensors were numbed for a moment and Nines found itself pressed against a wall. The first reaction was to push Reed away, to get the situation under control. Nines wasn't supposed to push hard but it must had surprised the Detective enough to make him stumble on his back

After a pained grunt Reed's attention locked to Nines' face and LED, blinking red as indication for the android's rising stress. "Hey, you okay?", he asked carefully.

Nines was very still, trying to stabilize its system: "Yes. I am sorry for pushing you. You should not had kissed me."

Reed climbed up from the floor. "Why not?", fast heart rate, body temperature rising, blushing. He stared at Nines with serious eyes.

"You know why, we have had this conversation already", it was months ago. Nines had figured that the Detective was attracted to it and couldn't get the android out of his head, making him air headed. Their solution was unconventional to say the least but it seemed to have helped. Reed didn't stop to stare and daydream about the android so openly anymore and showed the symptoms of attraction only seldom. Looks like he had just bottled everything in.

"Don't remember agreeing on anything. And if I had, you should know better than to trust me", Reed walked confidently to Nines even when he was red as a tomato. "Truth is I can't get you off my mind and jerking me off surely didn't help. Or all the other gestures that have nothing to do with you having feelings", now he was just being sarcastic.

Reed seemed exhausted. Suddenly releasing something he has been keeping in for months. "Why not find other company? I think you are just lonely." 

"Sigh, like I haven't tried", Reed pulled a chair under him and slouched down. "Every time being with but not BEING with you gets too much to bear. The thing is, no-one really compares to you."

He must be talking of the ones leaving him bruised. "Maybe you should try people who are little more… Gentle", Nines really wasn't one to give dating tips, but if it would help the Detective get over the android, it was ready to try.

"Heh, easier to find people who want to hurt you than do you good. Besides, you think I'm going to get myself a prince or princess with a face and personality like this?", he looked up to Nines and pointed at his face. There must be some trauma in Reed's history that makes him see all humans so evil. It's also hard to believe only violent people would take interest in him. Some people seek pain to numb their feelings and it was likely that Reed was one of them.

Suddenly an awful suspicion surfaced to Nines’ mind. "Detective, could you take off your shirt?", the android asked casually. Reed was wearing a turtleneck sweater under his jacket so everything was covered expect his head and hands.

Reed looked guilty and turned his head. "I think you already know what's under…"

It did. If the Detective’s way of erasing Nines from his head was with pain it was obvious what was under those clothes. Nines just needed to know the magnitude. It kept insisting with a stare and the man gave in. Sluggishly he stood up from the chair, first removing his jacket and setting it on the back rest. He paused for a moment and glanced at Nines, like ensuring if the android really wanted to see. For an unknown reason Nines' stress level started rising. Reed grabbed the hem of the shirt and hesitantly pulled it up.

Nines analyzed the marks as they appeared from under the shirt. Redness on sides, like the skin has been rubbed against something. Bruised bite marks all over his body. Swollen nipples. Hickeys, bruises and bite marks on his throat and neck. Friction burns on wrists. "This is not a healthy way to drive yourself away from me", Nines set his hand under Reed's wrist and raised it to observe it closer. Reed had been cuffed. 

"It's nothing permanent", the Detective's heart rate had settled when he had sat down, but now it skyrocketed.

"I did not mean physically. This is not good for your psyche. You need care, not hurt", the hand was laid down and Nines moved on to Reed's neck. The man averted for a bit before letting the android raise his chin and turn his head to better see the patterns. Reed had been choked. It was hard to believe he would let anyone hurt him like this. Seems like the man doesn’t always need to be in control. "The pain may give you a momentary relief but it is not a far reaching solution", like Reed would listen to an android’s advice.

The Detective was breathing heavy. He had closed his eyes and Nines could swear it could feel the man shiver… From such a gentle touch. It was intriguing and Nines couldn’t get itself to let go. “Are you teasing me on purpose?”, Reed looked at the android under heavy eyelids and spoke like he was out of breath. Right away Nines let go and gave Reed some space.

“I apologize. I did not think…”, there was no instruction or orders on how Nines should handle the situation when a human would show this much fondness towards it. The whole idea was absurd. Yet here it was. Nines mapped out possible actions and their consequences.

1) Nines leaves Reed alone. The man seeks ease to his need of intimacy and attention from one night stands and physical pain  
a) Reed will eventually find a suitable partner for himself and forget his fascination towards Nines  
b) Reed will keep yearning after Nines, keeps doing one night stands with destructive partners and possibly end up being hurt worse than he has so far

2) Nines provides what the man seeks from the android  
a) Reed’s physical needs are met and he has no need to seek comfort from strangers. Eventually Reed will grow tired of Nines so the android won’t haunt him anymore and the Detective can carry on normally with his life  
b) Reed’s feelings towards Nines won’t fade with time and they are stuck in this unnatural situation.

The final option was impossible. It was clear what Nines should do. What has the smallest risk to disturb Reed’s well being at work and generally. Reed was about to pull his shirt back on, quiet in his own thoughts. “Detective”, it was important Nines had Reed’s attention to what it was about to say. Reed paused his movement and raised his gaze. “I will help you, but you must promise me this is not permanent.”

“What is?”

Nines gently guided Reed’s chin up with a single finger and kissed him. But not before turning off the sensors in its tongue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to divide this chapter in two, it was getting too long for my taste. In next chapter we get to the XXX~


	6. I don't want it if you don't want it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's finally the dirt. Enjoy.

“F-fuck… Are you serious? You’re not screwing with me?”, Reed stared with wide open eyes and nervous smile.

“I am serious. I concluded that it is healthier for you if I take care of your needs rather than some stranger you only seek pain from. But you have to promise this does not las-”, so like Reed to interrupt the android in mid sentence. Reed dropped the shirt from his hands and took a hold of Nines' neck, pushed himself against the android and kissed like he was trying to devour its mouth. 

Reed peeled Nines' jacket off without breaking their connection and continued to the android's shirt even before the jacket hit the floor. When Reed had unbuttoned the shirt all the way down he separated himself from Nines to marvel its body for a moment. “It’s unfair how perfect you are”, he bit his lower lip.

“You should not measure me by human standards. Androids are merely dolls who are made to look perfect”, Nines didn’t know should it pose to its Detective or what so it just stood there. A hand slipped under Nines’ shirt, moving up along its side, over chest, up the android’s throat, on its cheek and withdrew so that finally only an index finger gently caressed the parted lips.

Hungry mouth replaced the finger and frantic kissing resumed, spreading around Nines’ mouth, jaw, throat, shoulder and chest while hands wandered on the androids midsection. "You feel strange", Reed pushed himself against the unmoving android, whose hands were on the man’s hips, petting calmly. Reed slowed down before stopping: “This doesn’t make you feel anything, does it?”

“If you expected me to get aroused I am sorry to disappoint you.”

"But earlier when we kissed you reacted...", Reed's brows knit tightly together. “Isn't there anything I could do to make you feel… something?”, hands waved up and down like waiting for instructions where to touch.

“No”, or if there was Nines didn’t know about it. “But that does not mean I am not able to pleasure you.”

“Pfft you sound like a bad smut fic“, Reed leaned against the wall next to Nines and crossed his arms. "I'm a fucking idiot, what the hell was I thinking… With my dick obviously", it was more like thinking out loud than talking to Nines. Reed set a palm on his face and rubbed his temples.

Reed didn't seem too eager to continue, but the sexual frustration was definitely still there. Nines stepped in front of the Detective who lowered his hand enough to look at the android. The hand was removed completely from his face by a firm grip around his wrist, Nines’ other hand angling his head upwards for a kiss. A thumb was set under Reed’s chin and rest of the hand holding his neck, controlling his head completely.

“Mmmmhh… Asshole-mmh...”, Reed was able to speak into Nines’ mouth. He freed his hand and pressed his arms against Nines’ chest, pushing it enough to free his mouth. “I’m not going to take advantage of you. I’m not that desperate...”, he dropped his head so Nines couldn’t see his face.

“You are not taking advantage of me. I am made to be useful to humans.”

“No”, Reed shook his head. “It’s not right if this doesn’t mean anything to you. If you can’t say if you want it or not.”

“Yet, you are reacting”, the bulge under Reed’s jeans was clear. Nines gently rubbed the man’s bare nipples. No matter how conflicted Reed was he was in a serious need for a release.

“Ahhh… Just tell me you want this...”, Reed held his arms between them but wasn’t pushing anymore.

“Then I would be lying”, a twist on the nipples made the man tremble and gasp out loud. “Do not think too much of this, just relax and enjoy”, Nines went on to unbuckle Reed’s belt and open the button and zipper on his jeans.

“F...Fuck…”, Reed still had his head hung down, watching the android’s hands work. Long and sleek fingers followed body hair from the navel down and inside boxers, all the way to the base of Reed’s erection. The touch was barely a grace but Reed panted like he had just ran a mile. Nines took a hold of the member and with just a few pumps Reed was in full hardness. With its other hand Nines grabbed the hair in the back of Reed’s head and pulled to get the man face up. “Agh! What the he-mph”, Nines caught rest of the sentence in its mouth.

The Detective mumbled and gasped in Nines mouth as it kept pumping his dick. The boxers were getting in the way so Nines lowered them to reveal everything and to get a better grip. Reed was hanging onto Nines’ open shirt, like trying to drag the android lower, and moving his hips according to Nines’ hand. Drool was dripping from Reed’s mouth every time Nines gave the man a second to take a breath.

“Haah… Wait…”, Reed pulled his hips away from the hand and turned his head away from Nines’ mouth, Nines giving him room. “I need to breath… haah… And… Phuck…”, he took a deep breath, “Your hand is starting to feel really dry.”

Guess Nines needed to change tactics. Reed took few more deep breaths with his eyes closed while leaning on the wall. He opened his eyes to the vision of Nines being knelt in front of him, hands about to lay on his thigh and taking a hold of his cock, mouth ready to take it in.

“Hey hey hold it!”, Reed slammed his palm on Nines forehead and pushed before the android got a taste.

“What?”, Nines asked and raised its relaxed gaze from the erection to Reed’s burning face.

“You don’t need to do that”, he couldn’t even look at Nines.

“You do not like it?”, according to Nines’ knowledge most men liked to get a blowjob.

“No- I mean yeah I do but that doesn’t mean-”  
“Then there is no problem.”  
“Hey you ass!”

Nines took it down with one go, Reed’s size wasn’t that impressive. The man liked to talk but he wasn’t pushing Nines away now that his cock was in the android’s mouth. There was a palm on Nines’ forehead ready if he needed to push the android away, other hand covering the man’s mouth. Nines started with a relaxed mouth, making the cock nice and wet, letting it fall out of it’s mouth few time then sucking back as deep as it reached. When the head was as deep as Nines could get it, it mimicked the movement of swallowing which earned a twitch from the Detective every time. He was actually oddly quiet. Nines took a long lick from the base of the member all the way to the tip, taking a break to see how his partner was doing. The man’s eyes were tightly shut and a hand covering his breath or any noise. When Nines didn’t continue Reed opened his eyes just barely.

“What are you staring at?”, Reed asked with annoyance.

“I would not had imagined you to be this sensitive”, what Nines had come to understand was that this wasn’t a first time for Reed. Not even close, so it was pretty surprising.

“You know, me neither. Guess you’re doing some android magic down there”, it was good Reed was able to relax a bit. Because Nines was far from done.

“I have not even properly started yet”, Nines saw how Reed’s face paled just before it continued its work. The android stiffened its throat to make it tighter, increased the suck and the speed its head moved. 

“Ah! Fuck, Nines!”, Reed folded over Nines, not able to keep the noises in anymore. The louder Reed got the more intense Nines tried to make everything. There was no need to drag this longer than necessary. “S-slow down! I’ll cum!”, that’s why Nines was doing this so it ignored Reed trying to push its head off him. Reed’s boxers and jeans had fallen to his ankles, allowing Nines to grasp the man’s naked buttocks and really push the man inside its mouth. Few more deep pushes and Reed was done. “Ah-! Haah… Gh…”, Reed trembled all over as he came. He was pretty much leaning on Nines, legs not able to carry his own weight. Nines kept the head deep in its throat and massaged it through the orgasm. “Enough… I can’t take it…”, but Nines wasn’t letting go no matter how Reed pushed. The man couldn’t back off either, being trapped between Nines and a wall. Finally when the Detective’s legs couldn’t hold him up anymore Nines let the man fall down to sit on the floor.

Nines watched the man before him, looking completely spent. Good. It waited for Reed’s breath to steady and asked: “Are you satisfied?”

Reed had kept his eyes closed while catching his breath but now looked at Nines with disbelief. “Are you seriously asking me that? No I’m not satisfied, dickwad”, he pulled his boxers and jeans up while still sitting on the floor. Reed sounded annoyed, had Nines made a mistake? “How could I be satisfied when you got nothing out of this. I’m not into fucking a mindless machine.”

“You know I am not capable of feelings like humans”, Nines had started to sound like a broken record player, how many times does it need to say the same thing till it gets through the Detective’s thick skull.

“Yeah well if you want to get me satisfied you better start learning”, getting up seemed troublesome so Nines offered Reed its hand, which the man refused. He took support from the wall till he was completely up.

“We should get back to our desk”, Nines buttoned its shirt and put on the jacket. It picked up Reed’s clothes and offered them to the man who seemed to be in his own thoughts. He reluctantly took them and dressed, avoiding eye contact with the android. “You do not need to feel conflicted, you did nothing wrong”, Nines tried to console.

“Why couldn't you be a human...”, Reed mumbled as he walked past Nines and out of the room. If Nines was a human it would feel sorry for the Detective. How sad it must be to fall in love with an inanimated object and expect love back from it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay show's over everybody go home. Final chapter will be little bit of smut and big bit of angst.
> 
> After that I'm getting ready to wrap up my Fucking Androids series ^^


	7. One step forwards, two steps back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nines finally has everything under control. Mainly meaning its partner. Now nothing is between the android and its mission to serve and be as useful the Detroit Police Department as possible.

The fact that Nines was only a machine frustrated the Detective more and more every day. He was still conflicted, but it didn’t stop him from enjoying the android’s company. He even took Nines home to use it for “work” a few times. No-one really paid a mind to it since Lieutenant Anderson had been doing that daily ever since Connor joined the force after the android revolution. Sure they did some work too but that was by far the reason Nines wasn’t left to the precinct.

Nines was fine with this arrangement. It was able to keep a better eye on its partner. After a heated debate Connor was even able to convince Reed to lock Nines up every night and when he left it alone without starting a scene every time. The reasoning was that it was less stressful for the RK900 to be locked than not since it hadn’t deviated yet. And never would.

Overall things were going exactly as Nines had planned. Reed seemed much happier and healthier when he regularly got the attention he was in need for. There was less tension between the man and android which made their collaboration smoother. Reed was more relaxed when he didn’t pent up pressure anymore till it made him apathetic, he could take everything on Nines. And not just sexual frustration. To Nines’ amaze Reed started to talk to it about just anything. How he couldn’t sleep again the previous night, traffic was a pain when coming to work, he saw a cute girl at a cafeteria, just trivial everyday events.

Trivial, unimportant, invalid. Still, Nines handled the information like it was the lead to catch a serial killer that had been tracked for a decade. Paid attention to every word and saved every detail. It was useless information so why did Nines’ program made it act like it was so important. Especially when they had more important things to pay attention to.

“Fuuuuuccckk my brain hurts!”, Reed whined scrabbling his hair with both hands. They had been tracking a red ice dealer who had suddenly vanished. They were working overtime as always but hadn’t made any progress the whole day.

“We cannot continue without new leads. It would be best to finish for today”, Nines already knew Reed wouldn’t quit till he found something, but you can always try.

“No! The guy’s just going to get further and further away if we waste time. I need to find something! Anything!”, the man had been going through same security camera footage over and over in case he missed something crucial. Nines had checked the same footage and a hundred other but there was nothing. It was futile.

“Detective”, Nines got up from its seat and leaned on Reed’s desk, as close to the man as it could. Reed was little taken aback and suspicious on what the android was up to. “If you do not finish for today voluntarily, I will drag you home by force”, Nines kept its voice down so only Reed could hear it.

The man went red and turned his head to a direction where no-one could notice it. “I fucking hate you”, Reed said with a slight smile. Everything in him except his words was saying he actually enjoyed the idea. Enjoying that someone forcefully cared about him. Even when it wasn’t really care, just making sure Reed wouldn’t be a total zombie and unable to do his work the following day.

Reed was taking his sweet time finishing whatever he had been doing, like he actually wanted Nines to force him out. Nines kept its eyes on the Detective expectantly, Reed constantly taking his eyes off the monitor to quickly check on Nines. He wasn’t even doing anything on the computer anymore. “Enough”, Nines made a move to take a hold of the man but right away Reed jumped up and shut off his computer.

“Okay okay we’re going”, Reed took his jacket from the back of the chair.

“I am coming with you?”

“Of course, didn’t you say you’re dragging me home?”

“That was if you would not leave voluntarily.”

“I can still open the computer and continue my work”, Reed acted like he was about to sit back in his seat.

“If you want me to come with you just say it”, Nines will never get Reed home at this rate….

“I don’t really care if you stay here or come with me. Wasn’t it you who wanted to take me home?”, why did he have to make everything so difficult. This is pointless. Nines took a hold on the collar of Reed’s jacket and dragged him away from his desk. “I was just kidding, you can let go now. Hey! Did you hear me!?”, Reed stumbled behind the android while trying to make it loosen the grip. Nines could see the glares other officers gave them as they walked out of the precinct and knew Reed saw them too. “I’m serious let go fucking plastic!”

\-------------------------------------------------

Nines opened its eyes in the Zen Garden. It was morning and the ground was covered by thin layer of snow. Amanda was standing on a bridge, facing away from Nines. The android made its way to her, leaving a path of footprints behind.

“Hello Amanda”, Nines stopped few feet away from her and greeted as always when meeting her.

Amanda turned slowly, but not to completely face Nines, and gave a swift smile: “RK900, it has been a while. You must be wondering why I have summoned you here.” Indeed it was. Amanda only calls to it when there has been changes to objectives and this has not happened since Nines was activated. “I see you have found a common ground with your partner, Detective Reed. Good job.”

“Thank you Amanda”, getting an affirmative from Amanda that Nines had taken the right course of action with the Detective gave Nines a strange sensation of peace.

“But…”, of course there was something else, Amanda wouldn’t summon Nines just to compliment it, “you are going too far. You are not a babysitter, you are a detective android.”

“A detective android with a partner who I need to do my work. The better he is the better I can be. I admit he complicates things more often than I would prefer but he is a good detective once you learn how he works”, Nines could had gone on but it noticed Amanda was waiting to speak.

“Good thing CyberLife is giving you more authority then”, Amanda smiled and turned all the way to face the android. “From now on you take orders only from Captain Fowler and Lieutenant Anderson from the Detroit Police Department. You still work with Detective Reed but only nominally. If the Detective is between you and your objective you are allowed to use force against him if needed to achieve your goal. If problems arise from this, CyberLife will handle it with the DPD. In short, I am telling you to ignore Detective Reed and concentrate serving the DPD.”

Amanda's order didn't make sense. “This course of action will destroy everything I have built between me and the Detective so far, are you sure we should-”

“Yes”, there was finality in Amanda’s word. She raised a paper umbrella over her head, Nines hadn’t even noticed she had been carrying one. Seconds later snow started to fall to the garden. First lightly but getting heavier rapidly, soon covering the path Nines had made.

Nines closed, then opened its eyes to Reed standing in front of it. “Did it run out of batteries or something?”, Reed was holding Nines' controller on his palm and staring at it.

“It cannot run out of batteries”, the man jumped back throwing the controller out of his hands when he heard Nines speak.

“Jesus you nearly gave me a heart attack!”, Reed held his right hand on his chest and leaned on his thigh with the other hand. “What took you so long? Were you actually sleeping?”

“Androids do not sleep. I was occupied”, it was 6:13 am, Reed usually left for work around 7:00 am. Nines moved past Reed from the living room where it had been locked up for the night and parked itself next to the front door. “I will be waiting here till you are ready to go to work. I will go through our case and come up with a plan how we should continue our investigation.”

Reed’s expression was full of confusion. He was left staring at Nines with his mouth half open like he wanted to ask something. Of course Nines' sudden change of behavior wouldn't go unnoticed by the Detective. Usually the android would had first asked did Reed sleep well, then has he eaten yet and finally recommend to wash his teeth. After straightening himself and taking a deep breath in and out, his hand held together in front of his face, Reed finally found some words: “I have no idea what’s going on.” Nines didn’t answer. Didn’t even look at the Detective. But he was in its field of view so the android saw the worry on Reed’s face when he walked to it. “Hey, what’s going on? Did I do something?”

Nines looked Reed dead in the eyes and talked expressionlessly as always: “No. I got new orders from CyberLife which tell me to concentrate only on my mission of serving the DPD.”

Reed seemed suspiciously. “Sooooo that means you’re going to ignore me on other than work related stuff?”, he didn’t take the android seriously.

“Yes.”

“C’mon stop the act it’s not funny or cute”, Reed headed to the kitchen and pushed the android on the chest on the way as an invitation to follow him but stopped when the android didn’t follow. “Seriously I’m tired of this game already, cut the crap”, one could hear from the tone how annoyed he was getting. Nines said nothing. Reed marched back in front of Nines, nearly chest to chest. “Are you fucking kidding me?! You’re seriously pissing me off right now!”

“Please start putting yourself ready, you are wasting both of our time.”

“... Hmph”, Reed turned once again to the kitchen but wanted the final word, “If you think for a second that I believe you’d let CyberLife control your actions like that then you’re an idiot. You're too stubborn for that. You’re just fucking with me. Heh, fine, let’s see how long you can keep this up.”

A day. Two days. Three days. A week. Two weeks. The Detective tried to push all Nines’ buttons with no reaction. Questioned its intellect, pulled out stupid stunts and overall made stupid decisions, on purpose, and waited for Nines to intervene. It got both of them in trouble more than once even when Nines carried out its own part of investigations perfectly. Reed even almost got suspended. If he had Nines would had just gotten a new partner.

Reed started to neglect eating and had a hard time sleeping again, one didn’t need to be an android to notice that. It was a shame, he had made such a good progress in self-care with a little push from his android. No more sharing stories of small everyday experiences either, no chit-chat even the taunts died out little by little. What was the point when the listener didn’t respond. The conversations were replaced with bullying other officers and detectives. Both Reed and Nines were devolving back to what they had been when they first met. No, even worse.

This change didn’t go unnoticed by Reed’s colleagues, let alone Nines’ older model. Three weeks had passed like this and the effect it had on Reed was, as Nines had known all along, negative. He was like a zombie. Very passive, silent and tired, until someone made the mistake of talking to him, being too loud or just looking at him the wrong way, which made him explode on their face. Even the people who usually endured him avoided him like a plague.

“What’s going on?” Connor walked to Nines, working at its desk, when Reed left to get his fifth coffee of the day. Nines stopped writing a report to give Connor its full attention, as it would with a human. Lieutenant Anderson had earlier ordered Nines to respect Connor and treat it like a person.

Nines knew right away what Connor was implying and didn’t see a reason to hide anything: “CyberLife gave me new orders how to handle my mission.” The sadness in Connor’s eyes was very unexpected.

“You see what you’re doing to him, right?”

“Yes.”

“How does it make you feel?”

“I do not feel”, Nines didn’t, but there was something wrong it wasn’t going to mention. Ever since the new orders and watching Reed devolve back to what he had been, it was like Nines' insides were being crushed. Everything was functional, Nines made a self check often, but the sensation didn’t go away.

Connor glanced at Nines LED and gave a knowing smile. “I guess so.”

Nines played back something Connor had told it a while back: “I know you are trying to get along with Detective Reed but I wouldn’t get too close to him if I were you. He is not a nice person and I don’t want you to get hurt.” Connor listened to its own words and squinted at the newer android. “I am also following your advice”, Nines stated.

“You don’t have to be sarcastic. I… might have been wrong. I still think Reed is not a nice person but at least with you he was bearable. I think whatever you did to Reed was good for him. And even better for you”, Connor’s thoughts and advises were useless to Nines, it was a newer model with better deduction skills after all, so Nines didn’t put too much weight on Connor’s words. “What I’m sure about is that it was better than this is for everyone”, both Connor and Nines were now following as Reed was shaking and hitting the coffee machine in the breakroom, cursing how he can’t trust any machines nowadays and they should all go to hell.

“I know this is stupid. Doing what CyberLife ordered me does not benefit anyone.”

“So why do you do what they tell you?”, Nines looked at Connor as confused as it could with its limited arsenal of expressions. What else was there to do? “You said so yourself, the orders CyberLife gave you don’t benefit your mission in any way and are instead harmful to your partner and the whole DPD, why not just ignore them?”

“Don’t bother, that thing is broken”, Reed had finally managed to get his coffee and fell heavily on his chair, surprisingly not spilling any of his coffee. “Actually, why don’t you do that connection thing of yours. Maybe you’ll get the virus it’s having and we’ll get rid of both of you.”

Connor could see it was not wanted here so it tapped Nines on the shoulder and returned to its own desk. Why not just ignore them? Nines hadn’t even seen that as an option before. Why, it’s so simple. What prevents it from saying something to Reed right here, right now.

What was wrong with the coffee machine? Have you eaten anything today? I see you did not sleep well again last night. You should take a proper break, not just to get coffee. How are you feeling? Are you alright?

Just pick one.

Nines’ jaw twitched but then everything freezed, like the time itself had stopped or slowed down tremendously, and Nines could see a wall before it. A wall saying IGNORE DETECTIVE REED and CONCENTRATE ON SERVING THE DPD. Nines was able to touch the wall even when the android, like everything else around it, was completely still. Nines knew what to do. It said: “I have finished the reports on our finished cases. Is there anything else you need me to do right now?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know no-one saw this coming. Me neither. When did I update the previous chapter... 12th of September. Oh dear.
> 
> First of all, thank you who have been reading this story and especially the ones that have left me comments. Those warm my heart. And congratulations if you actually finished reading the whole thing, that's some commitment.
> 
> I was not planning on finishing this fic ever because I completely lost my interest in Detroit and didn't want to force myself. It would had been shit. But stuff happened and here I am, back in android hell. Don't you just love when that happens.
> 
> Finally, there was a sex scene between the scenes of Reed/RK900 getting home and RK900 waking up in the Zen Garden but I decided writing a separate story for that so I'd get this mess wrapped up. And I did. Good job me. Also I know there are ppl who are here only for the smut so thinking about them too, they can skip all the emotional stuff.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't expect updates too frequently, I'm busy as heck...


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